



I/jC 



LIBRARY OF 



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019194 "955*3 1 



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GOVERNOR TAFT IN THE 
PHILIPPINES 



A REVIEW OF HIS EVIDENCE 



GIVEN BEFORE THE 



SENATE COMMITTEE ON THE PHILIPPINES 



BY 



WINSLOW ^yARREN 

Boston, Mass. 



lADtS j j'SST l COUNCIL y 

lu 



^ 



1 






GOVERNOR TAFT IN THE PHILIPPINES. 



The high standing of Governor Taft as a gentleman 
of great legal ability and integrity of character, as well 
as his position as President of the Philippine Commission, 
render his testimony of value and entitle it to our careful 
consideration. That he entered upon his duties in the 
East with high motives, and with faith that good would 
come to the Filipinos as the result of his mission, may 
well be admitted, and it is with satisfaction that we note 
he concedes that independence may hereafter be granted 
to the Filipinos, adverse as he expresses himself to any 
concession or promise on our part now. It is not easy, 
however, to follow him in the reasons that he offers for 
our withholding such promise, the substance being that it 
would excite the Filipinos and render them unduly hope- 
ful, while he admits that the absence of a definite policy 
or promise hampers the Commission and furnishes no 
means of satisfying the unrest and disappointed aspira- 
tions of the Filipino people. 

Before making any comment upon special points of his 
evidence it is well to quote certain general statements in 
his owM language, as taken from the printed report of the 
evidence given before the Senate Committee. 

Page 325 he says: "• My proposition is that it is the 
duty of the United States to establish there a government 
suited to the present possibilities of the people, which 
shall gradually change, conferring more and more rights 
upon the people to govern themselves, thus educating 
them in self-government until their knowledge of govern- 
ment, their knowledge of individual liberty, shall be such 
that further action may be taken, either by giving them 
statehood, or by making them a quasi-independent gov- 
ernment, like Canada or Australia, or, if they desire it, 
by independence." 

Page 328 : ''Practically the effect of such a promise 
(to give independence) would be exactly the opposite 
from that which the argument presupposes. The promise 



to give them independence when they are fit for it would 
be accepted b}- them as a promise to give them independ- 
ence certainly during the lifetime of the present genera- 
tion. It would at once bring into a discussion of every 
issue the question whether now were not the people ready 
for independence. It would drive out capital ; prevent 
capital from coming there ; and upon the investment of 
capital, the building of railroads, the enlargement of 
vision of the Filipino people, much of our hope of progress 
must depend." 

Page 339 : " My own judgment is that the best policy, 
if a policy is to be declared at all, is to declare the inten- 
tion of the United States to hold the islands indefinitely 
until the people shall show themselves fit for self-govern- 
ment under a gradually increasing popular government, 
when their relation to the United States, either of state- 
hood, or of quasi-independence like the colony of Australia 
or Canada, can be declared after mutual conference." 

Page 346: ''If I may say it, personally, I did not 
favor going into the Philippines. I was sorry at the 
time we got into it. But we are there, and I see no other 
possible means of discharging that duty which chance has 
put upon us than to carry out the plan I suggest." 

Page 347: ''Now I have been called an optimist, I 
think the Mark Tapley of this business. It is true I am 
an optimist. If I did not believe in the success of what 
we are attempting to do out there I would resign and come 
home." 

Page 405 : " Q. Will you please state the grounds of 
your objections to the acquisition of the islands by the 
United States." 

A, " Because I am not an expansionist, and I would 
much prefer that we should proceed in the United States 
to make the government better here than to go to distant 
possessions. I said so at the time I was appointed, and 
I have not changed my mind in that respect." 

Page 407: "For the people of the United States it 
probably would be better that chance had not thrown 
the Filipino people under our guidance and protection." 

These are frank and fair statements, and after reading 
them we are somewhat unprepared for the evasive char- 
acter of much of the testimony, the very apparent un- 
willingness to answer with directness questions throwing 
doubt upon the wisdom of our Philippine policy, and, 



the tendency sometimes, to overstate, and to obscure the 
meaning. 

We may make some allo\yance for his very optimistic 
temperament and also for the necessity of squaring things 
that seem utterly inconsistent with .views previously ex- 
pressed, and perhaps charge up some things to the strange 
effect upon the American mind which life in the Philippines 
seems to produce, but even then it is difficult to under- 
stand the broad difference of opinion as to conditions in 
the islands shown to exist between him and equally good 
authorities, civil and military. 

He seems to have been singularl}^ unfamiliar with the 
writings of eminent historians of the Philippines, with the 
reports of the first Philippine Commission and wath those 
of the generals of our army, and in repeated instances 
when extracts are read to him expresses his disagree- 
ment — Page 79, he differs from General Bell as to the 
desire of the people for peace. Page 80, he says — " I am 
here to give my own views. Many of these matters involve 
questions of opinion upon which there is very likely to be 
a difference. I approach this question from a somewhat 
different standpoint from the military commanders." 

Pages 93-94 — he differs from an article on the Philip- 
pines transmitted to the Committee bv the Secretary of 
War. 

Page 101 — he differs from Mr. F. H. Sawyer, the 
eminent writer upon the Philippines. 

Page 13() — from General McArthur. 

Page 137 — from General Bell again. 

Page 160 — from the historian J. G. Foreman. 

Page 313 — from President Schurman. 

Page 323 — from present members of the Philippine 
Commission. 

Page 373 — he is ignorant of President Schurman's in- 
vestigation of the circumstances of General Luna's 
death or of the statements in Sonnichsen's book upon the 
same subject. 

Page 338 — he did not know of General Anderson's 
statement as to conversations with Aguinaldo. 

Page 394-5 — he doubts the statement concerning the 
Philippines in Professor Worcester's book. 

Page 397-400 — he differs entirely from the reports of 
the surgeon general and Surgeon Mason as to the health 
of the country. 



In addition to this his knowledge of the conditions in 
China and India is verv vague, and it does not anywhere 
appear that he has familiarized himself with the methods 
adopted by other nations in the government of oriental 
people, or with their i-esults. 

It is more strange still that he has apparentlv made 
little effort to acquaint himself with the views and aspira- 
tions of the Filipino people by conferring with their real 
leaders, and we find on page 372 the following surprising 
admission : 

'' Q. Have you ever talked with Aguinaldo? 

" A, No I have never seen him. 

" Q. You have never had communication with him? 

" A. No, sir. He sent word to the Commission 
that while he was in the custody of the military he did not 
feel like calling on the Commission, but that as soon as 
he should be relieved from that custody he would call and 
pay his respects." 

One would have thought that a conference with such 
leaders would have been the first consideration by an of- 
ficial who proposed to govern the islands intelligently and 
for that end appreciated the importance of a knowledge 
of the inner feelings and peculiar traits of the Filipinos. 

Yet this is what he says of Aguinaldo and other leaders 
and it is worth quoting in his own words, for it portrays 
men of great power and capacity. 

Page 375: ''I think Aguinaldo is probably the best 
known name, with the exception of Rizal, in the islands. 
That his personality is not generally known by the people 
I am very confident, because after the short campaign he 
showed himself very little to the people. His capture, in 
face of the general impression that he had some divine 
method of avoiding either injury or capture, has, it is re- 
ported to me, very much affected his prestige among the 
people. 

" Aguinaldo is a man of dignity. He is a man of limi- 
ted education. He is a man who knows how to keep his 
own counsel. That is not a widely spread trait among 
the Filipinos. He is a man who knows the failings of 
the uneducated Filipinos, and has the power of reconcil- 
ing leaders who are jealous of each other, and of avoid- 
ing jealousy of himself." 

Senator Carmack : " Yery remarkable qualities for a 
leader." 



" A, Yes, sir. That his idea of civil liberty or any 
kind of liberty is advanced, I have had no reason from my 
observation to think. But we have proceeded without re- 
gard to Aguinaldo. He is a prisoner, with much freedom 
in going about if he desires, but he has never availed 
himself of it.'' 

Pages 386-87: ''A. He (Senor Paterno) is a well- 
educated man. He is well educated both in Tagalog and 
in Spanish. He has written a number of books — one, I 
think, an ancient history of the islands. 

'^ A. I understand they (Calderon and Gonzales) pre- 
pared it (the Philippine Constitution) by reference to the 
Mexican and Argentine Republic Constitutions and com- 
parison with that of the United States. 

" Q. With reference to the Constitution of Malolos, do 
any considerable number of Filipinos have any familiarity 
with the history of the people of the United States? 

'' A, There are some who have given a good deal of 
study to it, but there are not many. I suppose Buen- 
camino has studied the Constitution as much as any of 
them and probably Calderon as much as any. I know 
Arenata, the solicitor-general, has studied the common 
law with a view to preparing himself for the changes that 
were made in the practice. Then I have no doubt that 
Chief Justice Arellano has done so, but others do not- 
occur to me. 

'' Q. Have these people any knowledge of, or have they 
studied, so far as you know, the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence of the United States? 

^' A, I suppose they have. I have no doubt that in 
connection with the Constitution they have studied the 
Declaration of Independence. 1 know that Mabini has, 
for he talked to me about it. 

'' Q. I suppose you know, as a matter of history, that 
in the interview between Gen. T. M. Anderson and 
Aguinaldo, General Anderson said to him that in its his- 
tory of one hundred and twenty-five years, the United 
States had had no colonies, and Aguinaldo said to him that 
he had studied the Constitution of the United States and 
no provision was found there for the establishment and 
control of colonies. Do you remember that histori- 
cally ? 

"-4. No, sir, I do not remember it. It may have 
occurred. That Acruinaldo himself has studied the Con- 



8 



stitation of the United States or the Declaration of In- 
dependence except through what Mabini told him I should 
venture to doubt. It may be. I do not mean to deny it." 

Very little more than this can be said of roany leaders 
in America, and the man who, like Aguinaldo, has the 
sense to keep his own counsel, who knows the feelings of 
the people, and can reconcile jealousies while keeping his 
own popularity, comes perilously near to the kind of 
leadership of Abraham Lincoln. 

Mabini, who is mentioned here, Governor Taft and all 
other authorities agree, is a man of uncommon ability and 
scholarship and the intellectual leader of Aguinaldo's gov- 
ernment. 

He is now banished to Guam by military order for ad- 
vocating the independence of his people. He is partially 
paralyzed and unable to fight. 

The first one hundred and thirty pages of the evidence 
are taken up largely with interesting accounts of the instruc- 
tions and general views of the Commission, their visits to 
the various provinces, their reception, the condition of the 
people at that time, and the various measures taken to 
create civil government. It is noteworthy that Governor 
Taft does not join in the effort to depreciate the character 
of the Filipino people. He finds them generally an honest, 
temperate, kindly, courteous, hospitable people, admirable 
in their home life, showing remarkable respect for women, 
and he expresses himself as strongly against the idea that 
they are a treacherous or a disorderly people. In point 
of education he thinks them less advanced than many 
other writers maintain — although in all the provinces he 
found a certain proportion of highly educated men who 
coptrolled the more ignorant masses. As to the latter, he 
finds that some can read and write a little in Spanish, and 
others in their own languages. Their fondness for and 
knowledge of music he thinks quite unusual. The gen- 
eral impression from his testimony is that the Tagalos 
and Visayans — the important Christian people — are 
fairly well advanced in oriental civilization, and with a 
good deal of capacity for receiving instruction and ac- 
quiring mechanical knowledge. 

There are other parts of Governor Taft's testimony that 
we read with less satisfaction than the foregoing, for they 
are much less candid and straightforward. The effort to 
fix upon Aguinaldo responsibility for the death of General 



• 9 



Luna seems a piece of special pleading. Early in bis 
testimony Governor Taft had gone out of his way to state 
that Luna was killed by Aguinaldo*s orders, and that 
Funston bad informed him that Aguinaldo had confessed 
it to him. When pressed to state more particularly 
what Funston said, the following testinaony was given : 

Page 371 : " Q. Do you know whether the fact that 
General Funston had made that statement of the confes- 
sion of Aguinaldo bad ever been made public in the United 
States before you made it the other day ? 

" ^. I do not know anything about it. 

" Q. You have no knowledge of such a thing? 

'' A. No, sir. 

'' Q. Do you know why you stated it, Governor? 

'^ A, I do not remember what was the connection 
which suggested it. 

'* Q. There was, as I recall, no question relating to it? 

''A. I have not examined it. I do not now remember. 
Aguinaldo did not make it as a confession, he merely 
stated it as the result of Luna's conspiracy. 

" Q. Do you know whether he made a statement of 
that kind to anybody else than to General Funston ? 

" A, No, sir. 

" Q. Have you heard of such a statement? 

" A. No, sir. 

" Q. What was the discrimination that you made be- 
tween a confession and a statement in relation to that 
matter? 

^' A, I mean that he did not regard it as a confession 
at all. He regarded the circumstances as justifying his 
action. 

" Q. And he regarded the statement as a matter of 
course? 

" A. Yes, sir." . . . 

I have always understood that the killing of Luna was 
due to very decided differences of opinion between him 
and Aguinaldo and the formation of what Aguinaldo 
thought was a conspiracy against him. But I had never 
before heard a statement that Aguinaldo had made such 
a remark to General Funston. 

" Q. It has never been denied, so far as you know, by 
Aguinaldo or any of his friends that the assassination of 
Luna was at the instance of Aguinaldo? 

^^ A. I do not understand it otherwise. 



10- 



'' Q. Governor Taft, were you aware that it was the 
subject of an investigation by tlie previous Commission of 
which Schurman was president? 

'^ A. No, sir, I may have read it, but I do not recollect 
it." 

And when Schurman's report was read to him, as the re- 
sult of a careful investigation exonerating Aguinaldo, he 
could only say, " I only knew generally that the circum- 
stances were that Luna was shot at the door of Aguinaldo's 
tent or his headquarters, by his guard ; " and again when 
confronted by Sonnichsen's book of '' Ten Months in Cap- 
tivit}^" containing the statement of Lieutenant Villamor, 
who was one of Luna's partisans, that Luna's friends never 
accused Agunialdo of the general's death, he could not re- 
member of having read the book, but said, '' If the Villa- 
mor to whom that alludes is the Villamor whom I know, — 
and I know three of them, — if he is the judge whom we 
have appointed, — I should place a good deal of credence in 
his evidence," and then added, he was sorry that in a de- 
sultory conversation like this examination, he should have 
made any allusion to Luna's death. The impression given 
by the examination upon this point and the evident at- 
tempt of the majority of the committee to obstruct ques- 
tions calculated to bring out the real facts, is, that both 
the majority of the committee and the governor were very 
willing that the odium of the killing of Luna should rest 
upon Aguinaldo, although his character had been entirely 
cleared from the charge by most reliable American and 
Filipino authorities. 

In view of Secretary Root's letter of Feb. 17, 1902, 
that '' the war in the Philippines has been conducted by 
the American army luit/i scrujmlous regard for the rules 
of civilized warfare^ with careful and genuine consider- 
ation for the prisoner and the non-combatant^ with self- 
restraint and with humanity never surpassed^ if ever 
equalled^ m a7iy conflict, worthy only of praise and reflect- 
ing credit ujjon the American people ^^' and especially now 
that Major Gardener's report has been reluctantl}^ fur- 
nished and much reliable evidence already offered of in- 
human barbarities and tortures it is well to notice that 
although Governor Taft makes no allusion to the Gar- 
dener report, which it appeared later had been forwarded 
by him to the War Department, and so did not appear in 
the long series of reports of governors and others ap- 



11 



pended to his testimony, he does say. Page 65 : ^' War 
is hard, war is rough, war is cruel, and when the death 
and the suffering that were caused to many Filipinos were 
known to their brethren, it is not reasonable to expect 
that they should love the instrument by which that punish- 
ment was inflicted." 

This quotation is curious by comparison with a great 
deal of his testimony wherein he expresses the opinion 
that they do '' love the instrument," and that a large 
portion of the people are friendly to our rule. The only 
way he accounts for it being the greatness of his instruc- 
tions and the happiness the Filipinos feel in having civil 
government after their experience of the military method. 
Page 74, he says: "I have heard charges of whippings, 
and charges of what has been alluded to as the water cure. 
They were rife in Manila, and I was about to proceed as 
to the responsibility and how they came about, and the 
possible explanations of them. Of course it was no duty 
of mine.^ That was a military question." 

Page 75 : '' What 1 am trying to do is to state what 
seemed to us the explanation of these cruelties — that 
cruelties have been inflicted — that people have been shot 
when they ought not to have been ; that there have been 
individual instances of water cure, that torture which I 
believe involves pouring water down the throat so that a 
man swells and gets the impression that he is going to be 
suftbcated, and then tells what he knows, which was a fre- 
quent treatment under the Spaniards, I am told, — all 
these things are true. There are some rather amusing in- 
stances of Filipinos who came in and said they would not 
say anything until they were tortured — that they must 
have an excuse for saying what they proposed to say." 

One is tempted to ask here, '' amusing," to whom, and 
whether it can be believed that torture was so much a 
general practice in the American army that these poor Fili- 
pinos expected it as a matter of course, and were willing to 
be killed, or nearly so, in that way, merely for an '' excuse." 

Page 77 : '^ Q. When a war is conducted by a superior 
race against those whom they consider inferior in the 
scale of civilization, is it not the experience of the world 
that the superior race will almost involuntarily practise 
inhuman conduct? 

'' A. There is much greater danger in such a case than 
in dealing with whites. There is no doubt about that." 



12 



It is fair to say that Governor Taft credits the military 
authorities with efforts to prevent these things, although 
he mentions no case of punishment, but still it is not easy 
to understand how he can justify himself for making no 
reference to the existence of the Gardener report. 

After this, and the evidence since admitted, of torture, 
burning, and slaughter, one is not much impressed with 
the objections Governor Taft states to our withdrawal 
from the islands. 

Page 328: " Q, What would happen to them if we 
withdrew in this fashion? 

" A, The personal hostility between leading Filipinos 
at times has been so great as to lead to bloody measures. 
How far Ihey would be carried here I have no idea. That 
is conjectural." 

Page 329 : '' A. Of course if you left the islands to 
anybod}^ you would leave them I assume to some sort of 
a committee or parliament appointed or selected, who 
would be dominated probably by those whose violent 
methods have continued the guerilla warfare, and that such 
a body could be created by proclamation within a reason- 
able lime I have no doubt. But that it would not consti- 
tute a stable government, that it would give rise to anarchy 
and division between the tribes and between individuals 
of power and force, I have no doubt." 

Page 330 : '^ A. Now that they can form such a gov- 
ernment as Aguinaldo formed I have no doubt. I under- 
stand this proposition to be to turn over to that government, 
whatever it may be, the sovereignty of the islands. Now 
after that turning over I tliink what I have stated will 
follow. 

'* Q, We would have to go back very soon? 

'' A. Yes, sir. 

This we submit in all fairness to the Filipinos — even 
if such consequences would follow as Governor Taft fears, 
shows no different state of things from that existing for 
years in Mexico and now existing in various parts of 
South America, and it is hard to see how the Filipinos, if 
these fears were justified, would be any worse off than 
they are now under the bloody rule of this republic. . A 
military despotism is what is predicted ; can any fair man 
say it does not exist now? — with this difference only: it 
would then be a military despotism of their own choosing ; 
it is now a foreign and detested military despotism. 



13 



The optimistic bent of his mind is shown nowhere more 
clearly than in his absolute reliance upon the sincerity of 
his demonstrative receptions in the Filipino villages, his 
confidence in the peaceful attitude of the people and in 
their willingness or even desire to accept our sovereignty. 
He finds that " order reigns in Warsaw " and infers that 
the people are happy and contented. Upon these last 
points he acknowledges his entire disagreement with 
Generals Chaffee and McArthur, although their reports 
when produced and read seemed to be new to him and ac- 
cepted with some surprise. 

The view that his evidence takes of the attitude of the 
Filipinos towards independence is absolutely contrary to 
that of the military and of President Schurman, and ex- 
cept for the roseate hue of much of his evidence it would 
seem incredible that he could convince himself of its 
correctness. Having admitted that many of the Filipinos 
were thoroughly educated and able men, and that the 
masses were controlled by such, knowing full well the 
history of their prolonged struggle against Spain for in- 
dependence, and the sacrifices they have made in the war 
now going on, — he tries to explain that they do not want 
real independence and do not know its meaning, and he 
applies this judgment impartially to educated and to 
ignorant men. 

It is almost impossible to believe in the sincerity of 
these statements, or if sincere, in his capacity to judge of 
the aspirations of the people. 

Page 50-51 : " Q. AVhat I want to inquire is whether the 
Filipino of average intelligence distinguishes between an 
independent government and a benevolent fraternal gov- 
ernment such as it is presumed we are attempting to give 
them ? 

" A, Oh, I think he does. You ask me about a 
Filipino of average intelligence. 

'' Q. Of average intelligence. 

" A. You assume that he has some education and some 
intelligence. 

" Q. Oh, yes. . . . Assume that he is able to read 
and write, whether it is Spanish or his tribal language 
. . . I mean of average inteUigence. 

'' A, I think he does. . . . The difficulty we find 
in the Filipino people and the difficulty which will remain 
during the present generation possibly, is the ease with 



14 



which an educated Filipino who has any wealth can con- 
trol and oppress his own people. ... So when you 
speak of independence, if you mean government by an 
alien, by a foreign country, I think the average intelligent 
Filipino of reasonable education understands it, but the 
great mass have very little thought beyond their own vil- 
lage and the control of those local affairs. 

" Q. Are we to depend upon that ignorance to make 
the Filipinos friendly to our rule? 

" A, No, sir; the hope of making things better there 
is the educated classes, which as I say are small." 

So far Governor Taft portrays a state of things which 
is essentially true of many civilized nations. 

Page 340 he says : ''The term 'independence,' when 
used by the insurgents, was supposed to indicate some- 
thing very good without any definition of what it was, so 
that many of the troops, as Prof. Worcester tells me, for 
I am not myself an authority on that question, in cheering 
said ^ dependencia ' instead of ' independencia.' On the 
other hand there are intelligent people who use the ex- 
pression 'independence' in an oratorical way without 
having thought out what the giving of it involves. . . . 
I venture to say that most of them have not followed to 
a last analysis what is to be done were independence 
granted." 

Page 342: "The tendency of all governments under 
them would be towards absolutism, an oligarchy, which 
would mean that the presidente of the village would con- 
trol absolutely the village, the governor would control the 
province, and the head of the government would control 
the governors." 

If this be true, one is tempted to ask, what of it? — it 
simply describes the form of government now administered 
in the Philippines by the United States, approaches very 
nearly the government of France, is no worse than Mexico, 
and has a really startling resemblance to the government 
of some of our own boss-ridden states. 

There is a good deal more of similar evidence intending 
to convey the impression that the Filipinos do not know 
what independence means, although he names an imposing 
list of leaders who are cultivated men, and who think they 
are strongly for independence, — the upshot of it all being 
in reality that they have not the American idea of inde- 
pendence nor a knowledge nor appreciation of American 



15 



institutions — all of which might freely be granted with- 
out affecting their right to decide for themselves what 
degree of independence they should have. It certainly 
could not safely be claimed that the masses in the French 
revolution nor the soldiers of our Continental army in 
1776, nor in fact the bulk of the people, had " followed to 
a last analj^sis what is (was) to be done were independence 
granted." If a people is never to have independence until 
it has reached that stage no people in the world will ever 
be fitted for it. 

No wonder that his answers were evasive as to the duty 
of a people to submit to oppression, and as to the criminal 
nature of a struggle against odds for independence. 

Page 78-79, Governor Taft : " It is a crime against the 
Filipino people to keep up that war under the circum- 
stances and those engaged in it have worn out the right to 
any treatment but that which is severe and within the laws 
of war." 

Senator Patterson : " Do you mean by that statement 
that the army fighting for independence has become so 
small by captures, by battles, by surrenders, that those 
who remain fighting for independence are guilty of a 
crime ? Is it a crime because the prospective independence 
is more remote now than it was two or three years ago? " 

Governor Taft : " It is a crime because it is subjecting 
their own people, in whose interests they profess to be 
carrying on the war, to the greatest privation and suffer- 
ing." 

Senator Patterson : " At the hands of the American 
army ? " 

Governor Taft: "The people who are not in these 
provinces at all. They are keeping them back from earn- 
ing a living. They are keeping them back from their 
ordinary vocations. In the very province of Batangas 
itself the great majority desire peace, and are only held 
there because of the system of terrorism of which I speak. 
Now I say that warfare which depends upon terrorism 
and murder is a crime. That is all I have to say." 

Senator Patterson : "Is it because in your opinion the 
independence of the Philippine islands has become hope- 
less that those who are contending for it are guilty of a 
crime?" 

Governor Taft: "I think independence for the time 
has become hopeless." 



16 



. Senator Patterson : '' And therefore those who are 
fighting for it are guilty of a crime? " 

Governor Taf t : ''They are guilty of a crime in the 
method which they seek to attain it.** 

Senator Allison : '' I should like to ask the Governor 
if he understands that these people are fighting for inde- 
pendence. I supposed they were merely making a guer- 
illa warfare? " 

Senator Patterson: ''Every statement he has made is 
to the effect that they are fighting for their independence.'* 

Senator Allison: '-That these bands are fighting for 
independence?'* 

Senator Patterson : "That they are fighting for inde- 
pendence." 

Senator Beveridge : "The Governor made the state- 
ment yesterday, if the Senator will excuse me — " 

Senator Patterson: "He said so the other day in 
response to a direct question." 

Senator Allison : " I did not know that." 

Senator Culberson: "It seems that you base your 
opinion that the warfare now being conducted is a crime 
on the ground that the great bulk of these people desire 
peace. Now I will read a sentence from Bell's order : 

' A general conviction which the brigade com- 
mander shares appears to exist that the insurrec- 
tion in this brigade continues because the greater 
part of the people, especially the wealthy ones, pre- 
tend to desire, but in reality do not want peace.' " 

Governor Taft : " That statement I should differ with, 
and I should differ with it as the result of conversation 
with men from Batangas which conversat'jns I have had 
all the time and had just before I left." 

On page 383 occurs the following : 

" Q, Please give the names of a dozen or more Filipi- 
nos distinguished for character and ability who ai'e op- 
posed to the rule of the United States, and who if present 
could give the committee valuable information as to the 
conditions and wishes of the Filipino people. 

" ^. I cannot give you the names of men who are 
opposed to the rule of the United States in the sense in 
which you use it. I can give you the names of persons 
who are understood to be in favor of independence and to 
belong to a party sometimes called the ' party of intransi- 



17 



gentes ' and now the ' party of peace.' If that is what 
you mean, I can give it. 

'' Q. Give a dozen or more names and their residences? 

" A. The persons who would answer the description of 
the question as I understand it would probably be in arms 
or assisting those in arms. 

'' Q. In this connection do I understand you to mean 
that the people in the Philippine islands who are advocat- 
ing the independence of the islands are in favor of the 
rule of the United States ? 

" A, The present continuance of the rule of the United 
States there. They do not want the United States to 
withdraw right awa3\" 

Senator Culberson : " So far as I know, nobody does." 

But leaving this singular state of things, that a people 
who have fought for years for independence, and are still 
fighting desperately for it, do not want it and do not know 
what it means and yet keep on sacrificing their lives and 
property under the guide of able and thoroughly educated 
leaders, we turn to a still more evasive part of the evi- 
dence, that relating to the so-called Federal party. It is 
too long to quote in full. Governor Taft had stated that 
the Federal party was for peace, that three Philippine 
members of the Commission were members of the party, 
and that he had brought a petition for them to be pre- 
sented to Congress or to the proper authorities here. He 
also stated that one of the planks in the platform of that 
party was statehood in the IJnited States, although he was 
unwilling to admit it was a very important plank — then 
followed this colloquy. 

Page 51 : " Q. If you will permit me in this connec- 
tion, two members of your Commission, I believe, are 
members of the Federal party? 

'' A. Yes, sir, three of them are, 

" Q. Three — and the object of that party as contained 
in its platform is, first, territorial government with repre- 
sentation in Congress, and, further away, statehood? 

" A, Yes, sir. 

" Q. And that same promise or an assurance of that 
description is being made to the people to induce them to 
surrender their arms and submit to the government? 

" ^, If you are stating that 'whereas' as coming 
from me I will have to qualify it in some respects. 



18 



'' Q. That is the object of the party and the declara- 
tion of its platform — you agree with me ? 

''A. Yes — that is true. 

" Q. And the Federal party is, as stated in your 
report, an effective instrument in the pacification of the 
islands ? 

''A. It is. 

'' Q. Is not that party holding out a promise in that 
way — I do not mean expressly — that those ends will be 
realized if the people submit to the authority of the 
United States? 

'' A. The Federal party, if you will permit me to say 
so, is made up of a majority of the educated people in 
the islands. It is certainly the political organization most 
widespread in the islands. The Federal party formed their 
platform. They brought it to us to approve or disapprove. 
We said we could not approve or disapprove — that the 
question of statehood was a question so far removed 
in the future that it was none of our business to discuss 
it, and so we have reiterated through the islands. The 
statement in the platform is that. That is one of the 
aspirations of the party. It does not involve, and the 
platform does not state that it has ever been promised 
by anybody having any authority in the islands, and while 
its presence there may have united and brought people 
to the hope it might be done, and it may be that some 
people have been misled by it. 

" Q. Would it not necessarily have that significance 
to the people ignorant to a degree, when three of the 
members of the Commission, oflScials under our own 
Government, are the most prominent leaders of that 
party ? 

'' A. It is possible that it has had some influence of 
that sort. 

" Q. What I wanted to ask in this connection is, 
when that expectation built up in that way is disap- 
pointed, as it may be, what will be the effect upon the 
people? 

" :4. To begin with, the question of statehood, like the 
question of independence, is so far in the future in my 
judgment — I give only my judgment — and it is so 
understood by the people there, I think — that I do not 
regard that feature of it as very important. 

*' The truth is that the Federal party included a good 



19 



maay who were not in favor of statehood, who were in 
favor of ultimate independence and so expressed them- 
selves." 

On pages 322, 323, and 324 follow a series of questions 
as to Governor Taft's own view as to giving the Filipinos 
statehood in this Union, which he seems very slow to 
answer directly and takes the ground that the matter can- 
not be discussed to advantage for fifty or a hundred years, 
which, of course, means never ; but he finally admits that 
he is opposed to statehood, although he leaves us in doubt 
as to his meaning, as follows : 

Page 377 : " Q. If they should continue in the Philip- 
pines urgently to insist upon statehood or some early 
action by Congress looking to that end or to the incorpora- 
tion of the islands as an integral part of the United States, 
and no action should be taken, will it not tend to create 
dissatisfaction and a feeling of disappointment which will 
encourage the insurrection, especially as you said the 
other day a number of people who are in the Federal 
party are really in favor of independence? Will they not, 
when disappointed in the hope of some early action by 
Congress looking to that end, turn toward independence — 
will they not turn toward insurrection ? 

" ^. I think if Congress takes the action I recom- 
mended yesterday and if that be understood to be the 
policy of the Government it will largely decrease, although 
I do not think it will end, the advocacy on the one hand 
of statehood or on the other of independence. But it 
will convince a large number of people that Congress de- 
sires that a stable civil government shall be founded with 
enlarging popular power, for the purpose of educating the 
people to complete self-government. A declaration of 
that sort, by Congress, would aid us in doing the work 
we have to do, as I conceive, before any question of state- 
hood or independence shall properly arise." 

It should be noted here that the policy he had stated 
the day before was a policy of holding the islands only 
until they were ready for statehood or quasi-independence 
— a policy which Congress thus far has given no sign of 
adopting. His views were quoted in the beginning of 
this review. 

Page 377, continued : '' Q. You stated the other day 
that you thought it was unwise for Congress to indicate any 
purpose of acceding to the petition of the Federal party in 



20 



these respects. I wish to ask you, on the other hand, if 
you would disapprove of or think it unwise for Congress 
to make a positive declaration to the effect that to incor- 
porate eight or ten million Asiatics into the body of our 
citizenship would be injurious and that the admission to 
statehood at any future time of an Asiatic archipelago 
would tend to degrade and endanger the character of our 
Government. What would be the effect of such a dec- 
laration on the part of Congress ? 

''' A.' The answer to that question depends altogether 
upon the effect of what we do there. I can conceive that 
the people there could become so well educated, so peace- 
able, and could so understand our form of government 
that it might not be injurious to the Commonwealth of the 
United States to take them in, but whether or not that 
point will ever be reached is a question upon which there 
must always be grave doubt until the experiment has 
been tried. 

'' Q. As I understand you, then you think the question 
whether we ought to incorporate eight or ten million 
Asiatics into our citizenship and admit to statehood in 
the Union an Asiatic archipelago 7,000 miles from our 
shores is a question which up to this time cannot be an- 
swered by a simple yes or no? 

''A. \"es, sir." 

And again, after a long statement of the inadvisability 
of making any promise whatever now to the Filipinos and 
of the difficulty and unwisdom of now discussing state- 
hood, we meet with the following confusing answers : 

Page 323 : " Q. Then this statement by the Federal 
party, of which three members of the United States Com- 
mission are active members, is false? — 

" ' To make of the Philippines a colony of the 
United States or to grant independence to ' the 
Philippines would be to hand the islands over to 
disorder and to anarchy, to destruction and to 
chaos.' 

" A, True as of what date. 

" Q. As of the date of the petition? 

" A. True as of now. It is just as true as gospel. 

" Q. It is just as true as gospel that to make the 
Philippines a colony of the United States is to hand the 
islands over to disorder and to anarchy? 



21 



''A. No. 

'' Q. To destruction and chaos? 

''A. No. 

'' Q. That is exactly what this party states to the Con- 
gress of the United States? 

" ^. To give them independence now, it is true. . . . 
So far as a colony is concerned I object to that course 
just the same as I do to establishing what the permanent 
relations between these islands and the United States 
shall be. 

'' Q, Is not the distinction between a territory with 
the Constitution of the United States extended over it, 
such as our territories in the United States, and a colony 
clear and distinct? 

" A. I do not think it is.'' 

'' Q. You do not? 

"^1. No, sir, the idea which the Federal party have 
with respect to colortial government is the government 
that prevails under Spain. 

'' Q. The Federal party have no idea that the United 
States would treat them in that way? 

'^ A. The treatment of these islands for exploitation 
with complete government in Spain is just what they have 
in mind in that statement." 

The answers to these questions rather dispel the idea 
that the Filipinos do not know the meaning of what they 
strive for, for they indicate an intelligent comprehension 
of the refinement of words used in platforms which would 
stagger most of the supporters of our party platforms, 
but farther than that they clearly show that the Federal 
party are being led on by false hopes, and suggest strongly 
the policy we followed towards Aguinaldo's original gov- 
ernment, which we allowed him to build up without protest, 
in a certain way assisted, and then, when our troops ar- 
rived, deliberately crushed out. It will be noticed that 
Governor Taft speaks of many having joined the Federal 
party to help independence under pretence of favoring 
statehood. This was so utterly contrary to his previous 
views that they did not want independence, that later in 
the testimony they had an awkward bearing upon the 
Governor's explanation of the need for the sedition laws. 

Without stating the examination in detail it is interest- 
ing to find that Governor Taft, while predicting anarchy if 
we withdraw, is not disposed to deny that practical anarchy 



22 



has been the condition of a large part of the islands since 
we went there, and that he is not hopeful of the future of 
the islands if they are exploited by Americans or others, 
nor unless we select our officials from honest men of first- 
class ability, and yet he advocates granting franchises, 
selling lands to capitalists, building railroads, etc., which 
inevitably lead to the exploiting of the islands. 

Page 377: " Q. You spoke the other day of the up- 
lifting power of our civilization and our tutelage and the 
practice of self-government. Our success in this respect 
would depend upon the character of the administration 
and the fitness and capability of the administrators, would 
it not ? 

'^ A, Yes, sir, largely. 

" Q. If the Americans whom we keep in authority 
over there are men of high character and high purpose, 
honest and incorruptible, animated by a spirit of real 
benevolence toward the natives, full of tact and patience, 
with a sympathetic understanding of the people, you think 
we can succeed? If, on the other hand, they are mere 
carpet-baggers and adventurers who go there to fill thefr 
pockets and get away as soon as possible, if the islancs 
are governed chiefly with a view to their exploitation and 
in the interest of non-resident syndicates and landlords, 
then you think we shall make a very bad mess of it? 

'' A. Yes, we shall." 

He afterwards admits the possibility of corruption and 
trouble, and that the tone adopted by Americans and 
foreigners towards the natives is unfortunate and danger- 
ous, and is fully aware of the difficulty of settling the 
question of the friars, but favors purchasing their lands in 
the hope that they will then take themselves off and re- 
move that source of trouble. 

How far this ideal state of things which he hopes for 
as regards office-holders and settlers is likely to be real- 
ized under our form of government and with changing 
administrations may be judged by our own past experi- 
ence at the South and by what is constantly happening in 
our own land. Can there be the slightest probability that 
we shall govern a distant colony better than we do our- 
selves, or that carpet-baggers and corruptionists will be 
sternly warned off from the Philippines? If not, then the 
'' bad mess " he speaks of will soon be upon us, and there 
are strong indications that we are already in it. 



23 



The Governor's account of the effectvUpon the Filipinos 
of writings and speeches in this country has its amusing 
side, although he talks in generalities and adds little of 
importance. He rather guardedly expresses the opinion 
that some speeches and writings have had a bad effect and 
obstructed the Commission's work, but when pressed as 
to the effect of speeches, etc., derogatory to the Filipinos, 
and as to what kind of speeches he referred to, he is 
never explicit, and when asked directly as to the effect of 
Senator Hoar's speech, the majority of the Committee 
became so abnormally sensitive that they excluded the 
question and thus prevented criticism of one of their 
august body, although the Governor had spoken freely 
of Senator Bacon's speech in the Philippines and had 
promptly answered a question of the chairman as to the 
effect, in encouraging the Filipinos to resist, of speeches, 
articles, and pamphlets here, which must have been largely 
by Senators. This can be found on pages 270, 271, and 
272, but elicits nothing of special interest. 

The most sensational part of the testimony and one that 
placed Governor Taft in the least pleasant light was that 
relating to the so-called sedition laws. He had at first 
stated that when they were issued he had been sick and 
had not signed them. Perceiving later that this seemed 
like a reflection upon the other members of the Commission, 
he carefully explained that he meant no criticism of their 
action. 

As he had repeatedly stated that the Filipinos did not 
want independence, or know what it meant, and had dwelt 
upon the improving peace conditions, it was not easy for 
him to explain why such laws were needed, at this late day 
and with such happy prospects of peace, to prevent advo- 
cating independence ; but he finally claimed that they were 
important because the Filipinos would advocate tear under 
the pretence of advocating independence, or by advocating 
independence keep up a state of unrest in the islands. 
But this ran against his statements that a vast majority 
wanted peace, and did not want independence, and left 
the law without any basis whatever upon his own analysis 
of existing conditions. Forgetful apparently that in his 
answers relating to the Federal party he had said that 
many joined it to advocate independence under pretence 
of advocating statehood, he became a good deal involved 
when questioned why then there was not need of a law pro- 



2A 



hibiting advocacy of statehood, and why, in view of what 
he had said, advocating statehood and meaning indepen- 
dence naight not keep the islands in the same state of 
unrest. The difficulties surrounding him here are best 
shown by quoting the evidence. 

Page 368-369 : '' Q. I should like to ask you a question. 
Is or is not this the theory upon which the sedition laws 
are founded that whatever seriously dissatisfies the public 
with American rule should be suppressed? 

" A, No, sir, it is not. All of the sedition and treason 
laws which were passed, with the exception of sections 9 
and 10, are merely a repetition of laws in form or in sub- 
stance of those passed in every State in the Union, a law 
which must be adopted in order that a government may 
protect itself at all. The other two sections were justified, 
in our judgment, for the reasons I have stated. 

" Q. Is not this the theory that whatever tends to pre- 
vent peace and continue the insurrection should be sup- 
pressed ? 

" A. Yes, sir. 

" Q. I will ask you whether or not there is not danger 
that you will be compelled to add a clause to the sedition 
laws making it criminal to advocate immediate admission 
into the Union as a state? 

" A. No, sir, it is not, for there is no such part}" in arms 
against the sovereignty of the United States. 

" Q, But the serious and earnest advocac}^ of such ad- 
mission and fault-finding with the Government because 
they are not admitted would tend, would it not, to increase 
the dissatisfaction of the Filipino people with American 
rule, and make them the more willing to aid and assist 
those whom you call insurrectos? 

" A. No, sir; that is not the ground upon which this 
act was passed. It was passed to prevent the real advo- 
cacy of the continuance of the war through the pretended 
advocacy of independence. 

" Q. Suppose they should seek to continue the war 
through the pretended advocacy of admission into the 
Union as a State? 

'' A. There is no such condition presented. 

" Q. Is it not likely to occur? 

" ^. It is not likely to occur. 

'' Q, But suppose it should occur? 

^' A, I do not know what we could do under the cir- 



25 



cumstances, but we have gone as far ,as I think it is 
necessary to go. 

'' Q. If you should conchide that it were necessary to 
go further, you would go further? 

^'A. We propose, as far as we can, to suppress that 
war by every means known to civilized nations, and 
it is not a question of theory with us ; it is not a ques- 
tion of argument as to constitutional rights in a peace- 
ful government where there is no insurrection ; it is a 
question of putting down something that is doing great 
injury to the Philippine people, and we propose to do it if 
our powers extend to that degree. 

"- Q. The trouble seems to be that you sometimes have 
the islands in insurrection, and then again you have the 
islands in a state of perfect quietude and peace ? 

'^ A, Well, we do, when what we say is presented in 
that way. As a matter of fact, I have explained the 
conditions of the islands and the extent to which war 
prevails, but the carrying on of a war of insurrection 
in two, or three, or four provinces, is a nucleus about 
which every dissatisfied spirit is pleased to gather, 
and is also an excuse for delaying legislative aid to the 
islands which we now seek. It postpones the coming of 
capital and it keeps the people of the provinces in a rest- 
less condition. 

''I may say, with respect to the suppression of the 
advocacy of independence, that there are in the border 
states of the Union examples of legislation of that char- 
acter which I did not know of at the time this statute was 
passed. For instance, my attention has been called to 
the statutes of Maryland, in which there was a law de- 
nouncing the advocacy of the separation of Maryland 
from the Union, or its secession. It is only the question 
of a government established, having the right, using civi- 
lized means, to suppress insurrection against its sov- 
ereignty." 

Senator Beveridge : " To maintain its own life.'' 

'' Q. Did you give careful and critical examination to 
the preparation of the treason and sedition laws? 

" A, No, sir. 

'^ Q, You did not, before you approved them, examine 
them critically to see whether they compare in substance 
and in effect with the laws of which they are alleged to be 
copies ? 



(( 


A. 


u 


Q. 


(( 


A. 


a 


Q. 


that 




(( 


A. 



26 



I never approved them. 

I see. 

I do not want to be misunderstood — 

I understand. You have heretofore explained 

I was not discharging any duties at the time 
those laws were passed, and I did not see them before 
they were drawn or after they were drawn, until I came 
here. 

'' Q. General Wright did all that the Senator from 
Colorado has asked you about? 

''u4. Yes, sir. General Wright was the person to 
whom was assigned the drafting of the entire criminal 
code, and this is part of the criminal code, the passage 
of which the turning of Manila from military to civil gov- 
ernment necessitated, because had this not been passed 
there would probably have been in force no criminal law 
punishing treason and sedition. 

" Q, Now that they have been passed, knowing what 
the otlier laws are to which the Senator has referred, and 
knowing the conditions there, they meet your approval? 

" A, Yes, sir, because I know the circumstances." 

These sedition laws afforded the Governor several bad 
*' quarters of an hour" during the examination, particu- 
larly when a close questioning developed th^ fact that 
they were issued as a war measure and yet excepted from 
their provisions several provinces which turned out to be 
the very ones where war was going on, leaving as the 
only provinces to which they could apply the ones where 
according to Governor Taf t's previous testimony profound 
peace existed, and where the Filipinos were so much in 
love with our benevolent sovereignty that they had ceased 
to advocate even that independence of which they did not 
know the meaning, and were absorbed in plans for state- 
hood in the American Union to which Governor Taft was 
opposed, and so far as known no one in the United States 
would agree. 

On page 376 we find the following colloquy : 

'' Q. You have justified the law on the ground of its be- 
ing a war measure, and that it is based on a state of in- 
surrection ? 

'' A. Yes, sir. 

" Q. By this law you exclude three provinces from its 
operation ? 



27 



Senator Cormack : '^The law applies only to pacified 
provinces." 

1^ " ^. That is because these provinces are under military 
control, and the military commander of course has arbi- 
trary powers of arrest. 

" Q. In other words, notwithstanding the fact that the 
basis of the law is a state of insurrection and a state of 
war, the law applies only to the provinces which have 
been pacified? 

" A. Yes, sir. 

" Q. Is not that a fact? 

'' A, Yes, sir; that is true.*' 

Page 389 : '' Q. I will ask you if these papers [Philip- 
pine newspapers] have been at liberty, or are they now 
at liberty, to advocate the immediate or ultimate inde- 
pendence of the Philippine islands? 

'' A. They are affected just as much as any one else by 
the statute on which I commented yesterday. 

'* Q. They are, therefore, prohibited from advocating 
it? 

"• A. That would seem to follow. 

" Q. The free discussion of that question, then, is not 
permitted in the islands either to individuals or to the 

That is the effect of the statute pending the war. 

It is a war measure, as I understand it? 

Yes, sir. 

The statute is not in its terms limited by time? 

Yes, sir ; it is. 

How long? 

Pending the war. 

Until peace is established ~ is that the provision 
of the statute ? 
" A, Yes, sir." 

This part of the examination reveals clearly enough the 
inherent difficulties an American must find in justifying a 
drastic law, making it a crime for a people to seek or even 
to advocate independence, against a foreign power apply- 
ing military force to their subjugation. 

With all the inconsistencies, the evasions, the subter- 
fuges, in the evidence, it still remains that Governor Taft's 
statements are the most important yet made before the 
Committee, as to the situation in the Philippines, the char- 
acter of the people, and the action of our authorities, 



p 


ress? 




a 


A. 




u 


Q. 




(( 


A. 




11 


Q. 




(( 


A. 




a 


Q- 




n 


A. 




(( 


Q. 



28 



civil and military. Unfortunately, it is not easy to dis- 
tinguish facts from fancies and allowances must fre- 
quently be made for a kind of optimism which evidently 
arises from insufficient knowledge or too easily accepted 
statements of others ; and the difficulty is apparent that any 
man must find who, as conscientious as a political parti- 
san can be, goes to the Philippines to represent an indef- 
inite and tortuous policy, and tries there to solve by a 
middle course a question which the history of similar at- 
tempts has often shown can, in the nature of things, only 
be solved in one of two ways, by colonial subjugation, or 
by early independence under such form of government 
as the intelligent part of the natives choose. 

In carrying out the views of a civilian, Governor Taft 
evidently and frequently came into conflict with the differ- 
ent methods of military commanders whose one idea was 
to suppress and stifle by violent action all opposition, and 
the inconsistency between such a course and the effort to 
placate and to inspire confidence among the Filipinos, in 
our beneficence, seems to have caused a good deal of em- 
barrassment. 

It is a just criticism of Governor Taft that, with all his 
legal ability and no inconsiderable experience, he shows 
slight acquaintance with the history of oriental nations 
and something approaching to indifference as to sources 
of information — that he lacks appreciation of the Malay 
character, is credulous of the unverified statements of 
prejudiced or interested parties, and that he treats lightly 
these racial characteristics which have brought to nought 
the plans of greater statesmen than himself and which 
are likely to make utter failure of attempts to engraft 
American ideas and institutions upon a race unfitted by 
nature, by climate, and by centuries of inherited traits 
and ways, for their acceptance. 

One regrets many lost opportunities for more complete 
and thorough knowledge of the motives and aspirations 
of the people with whom he was called upon to deal, and 
can only ascribe to his early training in Ohio politics a 
certain partisan tone, and a very apparent unwillingness 
to testify directly upon matters which bear hardly upon 
the administration policy, as well as a spirit of omission, 
if not of suppression, of facts of considerable importance. 

Senator Patterson's exclamation in course of the ex- 
amination sums up the general difficulty we find with the 



29 



testimoD}' : " The trouble seems to be that you sometimes 
have the islands in a state of insurrection, and then again 
you have the islands in a state of perfect quietude and 
peace." 

But apart from the testimony of Governor Taft him- 
self a reader of the proceedings gains a most unpleasant 
impression as to the character and purpose of the investi- 
gation. If truth only was sought for and not a white- 
washing of ugly facts, it would not have taken on the form 
of a trial, with the majority of the committee asking as 
little as possible upon subjects affecting their political 
views or prospects, and with the minority perforce placed 
in the position of cross-examiners with their cross-exami- 
nation obstructed by technical objections for the purpose of 
shielding the witnesses ; nor would there be objections to 
summoning witnesses asked for by the minority, nor at- 
tempts to keep the hearings as little open to the public as 
possible. The country demands the exact facts as to the 
Philippines, it desires to condemn no one and to exculpate 
no one, but it has a right to know what we have done 
there, what we are doing, and what course in view of the 
past it would be wise to follow in the future. With less 
than this it will not be content, and any suspicion of 
unfairness or of desire to withhold information will react 
upon the Committee itself. 



I 



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